Donald Trump expels 60 Russian diplomats, closes Seattle Consulate

It is really telling how in the White House release, the diplomats are listed as “Russian intelligence officers”. It is a very thinly veiled excuse, as its easier than saying “We would like to expel diplomats, because our administration is incapable of actually resisting the deep state, and draining the swamp.”

It seems a fair percentage of Trump’s supporters came from those who were not so much “Make America Great Again”, but also those who wanted better relations with Russia and the world.

The MAGA crowd may have been the loud mob, but the real intellectuals behind Trump were those that understood American triumphalism was part of the problem, and the US needed real diplomacy again with the world.

Those voices have now been drowned out, and pushed out of the administration it seems; what was meant to be actions to drain the swamp, turned out to be a Swamp coup. The RT report continues:

Of the 60 diplomats expelled, 12 formed part of the Russian mission to the United Nations. In a statement, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the 12 Russians in question had “abused their privilege of residence” in the US and had “engaged in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”

Haley said that the Russian diplomats had used the UN as “a safe haven for dangerous activities within our own borders.”

Alistair Bunkall on Twitter: “Mass co-ordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats:US – 60Czech – 3Ukraine – 13Lithuania – 3Latvia – 1Poland – 4Germany – 4France – 4Good day for Downing St. / Twitter”

Mass co-ordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats:US – 60Czech – 3Ukraine – 13Lithuania – 3Latvia – 1Poland – 4Germany – 4France – 4Good day for Downing St.

 During a summit in Brussels last week, the 28 EU leaders agreed with Britain’s assertion that it is “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the attack on Skripal.

Members of the EU numbering 14 have also decided to expel Russian diplomats following Britain’s lead.

Canada has also jumped on the bandwagon, announcing that it will expel four Russian diplomats “in solidarity” with the UK.

The timing of the expulsions by the US, EU and Canada appears to have been coordinated between Washington and Brussels. Eight EU countries confirmed within 15 minutes of each other on Monday afternoon that they would expel a number of Russian diplomats. Canada’s announcement followed shortly after.

https://twitter.com/mattb0401/status/974336097516949504

Moscow has always denied playing any role in the attack, and offered to cooperate with the investigation into the incident. Britain has declined, however, to send samples of the chemical agent used on Skripal and his daughter to Moscow.

Russia has predictably announced there will be reciprocal measures, not specifically against the US, but against all those who expelled Russian diplomats. Sputnik reports:

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, France, Denmark, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Romania, Finland, Croatia, Albania, Sweden and the US have decided to expel Russian diplomats amid the Skripal case.

“We express a decisive protest over the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO countries to expel Russian diplomats. There will be a mirror-like response. We will work it out in the coming days and give our response with regard to each country… We consider this step as unfriendly and not serving the tasks and interests of establishing the causes and finding the perpetrators of the incident that took place on March 4 in Salisbury,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.